Here's an article I found in the NY times today - thought it might be interesting: credit nytimes.com
For an actress wearing French couture to the Golden Globes last night, who has spent $4,000 to have her hair or makeup done by a top stylist, it probably paid to consult AccuWeather. The weather in Los Angeles was expected to be cool, with a slight breeze. Taffeta may stop the wind from blowing your dress up but silk chiffon sure won't.
There were probably some last-minute agonies as actresses got ready for the red-carpet gantlet. But for the most part, the women looked elegant.
Sarah Jessica Parker had on a long black lace dress by Rochas, her hair piled high and wound with tiny cord - a theme of the evening.
"What's that, darling? What's that?" Isaac Mizrahi, the designer and E! commentator, demanded of Ms. Parker, as if he had never seen eyelash lace.
Meanwhile,
Anne Hathaway wore an off-the-shoulder dress by
Marc Jacobs, and Jessica Alba had on a black Versace gown.
Michelle Williams's deep purple dress, from Givenchy, looked fresh amid the ivory and black. But no dominant fashion theme emerged, though a number of actresses like
Kyra Sedgwick favored the messy updo and on E! one learned a surprising amount about the actresses' undergarments, or lack thereof. At one point, Terri Hatcher, one of the Desperate Housewives, slapped Mr. Mizrahi away as he got personal with her beaded dress.
"I am sorry," Mr. Mizrahi said of his line of questioning. "It's interesting to me."
Twenty years ago a designer like Giorgio Armani could not only have his pick of Hollywood stars to dress, but also be assured that they would accept his advice about what color or style looked best on them. Now, according to a publicist for a European fashion house, "the actresses don't want a designer around during a fitting because they don't want to feel pressured."
As a consequence, designers have less influence today on the things they know best, like how a garment should fit.
The publicist, who didn't want her name mentioned because her company expected to dress a number of stars, characterized the atmosphere leading up to the Globes: "It's a lot of rumors and people talking bad about someone - 'She's hogging all the dresses.' " Some stylists will put a dress on hold for a client, effectively blocking someone else from wearing it and, possibly, from the dress being seen at all.
In some ways, the Globes are just about correctly doing the math. If you're a designer and you hope to dress five top actresses, you have to have at least 15 dresses on standby. "I have some very good contenders," Carlos Sousa, the director of publicity at Valentino, said on Monday morning, sounding as if he was handicapping the fifth race at Santa Anita.
Laura Linney and
Scarlett Johansson both had on red Valentino, Ms. Johansson in a number that seemed to offer her bosom as a fertility sacrifice. In any case, it called out to Mr. Mizrahi, who gave her left breast a friendly squeeze.
Keira Knightley, the
"Pride & Prejudice" star, also wore Valentino.
As much as the red carpet serves the interests of both designers and celebrities, it can also prove to be their undoing, with television commentators now acting like so many Mrs. Bennets - a type, as Jane Austen put it, "of mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper."
Gwyneth Paltrow wore a creamy white dress by Nicolas Guesquiere of Balenciaga, from one of the standout spring collections. But while Ms. Paltrow looked exceptional (as in, different), high fashion can be easily misunderstood, and actresses seem to find it easier to wear something classic or sexy to avoid getting hammered the next day by a Mrs. Bennet.
As a publicist said, "The girls are always worried about an unflattering side shot or a ruffle that makes them look fat."
Inevitably, there are real disappointments for the fashion houses. Olivier Theyskens, the designer at Rochas, made two dresses for
Natalie Portman based on his widely praised spring collection. One was in Giverny blue, another in pale green, and there was a fitting in Paris, said Nicolas Frontiere, his publicist. Some time over the weekend, however, Mr. Frontiere learned that Ms. Portman decided to wear something else. "I've been told the dresses were not quite perfect for her," Mr. Frontiere said, sounding disappointed. "We did our best. Anyway, that's life."
Ms. Portman, whose hair was
Jean Seberg short, looked lovely in a black Chanel dress from the 1950's. "We love Rochas - Natalie loves Rochas," said her stylist, Kate Young, "but the Chanel is exactly what she wanted to wear tonight." It seemed to be an evening for vintage.
Reese Witherspoon had on silvery vintage Chanel, while
Kate Beckinsale wore a dress from the Dior archives. They were, in a way, risking no complaints.
I like the part about the "Mrs. Bennetts" How else could all the best/worst lists be parading Anne Hathaway's Marc Jacobs as "great"
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